thompson



(ModeL) 3'She6ts-Sheet 1. J. P. THOMPSON.

COMBINATION LOOK.

N0.'407,Z6Z., Patented July'l6, 1889..

' (Modem 3 SheetsSheet 2., N JLP. THOMPSON.

I COMBINATION LOOK. No. 407,262. Patented July 16, 1889..

(ModeL) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. P. THOMPSON. COMBINATION LOOK.

No. 407,262. Patented July 16, 1 889.

N. PErERs. Phflrruthugmpher. Walhinglm, D4 0.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES FILLMORE THOMPSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COMBINATION-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 407,262, dated J uly16, 1889. Application filed February 27, 1888. Serial No. 265,880.(Model) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES FILLMORE THOMPSON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residingat Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Combination-Locks, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in combination-locks, and, whiledesigned more especially for use in connection with housedoors, may beused on safes and all other places where the employment is desirable ofa lock which may be set so that it maybe unlocked only by a personknowing the combination.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and pointedout in the appended claims. I

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is afront view of my lock applied to a door. Fig. 2 is a side view of thesame. Fig. 3 is an interior side View thereof in position to prevent thebolt from being withdrawn by turning the outside knob. Fig. 4 is acorresponding view, the mechanism being in position so that'the bolt maybe withdrawn on turning the outside knob. Fig. 5 is a sectional viewthereof upon line 00 w of Fig.3. Fig. 6 is a detail View showing thedowel-pin connection between the parts of the spindle. Fig.7 is asectional view upon line y y of Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is adetail view showingthe manner of operating the bolt independently by each of the two knobs.Fig. 9 is a perspective View of the adjustable stops for limiting themovement of the tumblers and thus regulating or changing the combinationfrom time to time as may be desired. Fig. 10 is a perspective viewshowing the slide-bars carrying the dogs which engage with the tumblers,and the bell-cranks for moving the different slide-bars. Fig. 11 is aperspective View of the frame or guides for holding the slide-bars. Fig.12 is a top view of the slidebars and the means of operating the same.

As illustrated in the said drawings, Figs. 1, 2, and 5, a b are handlesor knobs by which the look-bolt is actuated, said handles or knobs beingarranged in the manner common in door-latches. The knob a may beconsid-, ered to be the outside knob, and the knob b as the inside knobof the door. As hereinafter more particularly described, I preferably soconstruct the lock mechanism that the door may be unlocked by turningthe inside knob at any time without reference to the action of themechanism constituting the combination.

0 d e are push pins or buttons, which are anism of the lock. Saidpush-pins are placed, as shown, at the outside of the door ata pointadjacent to the knob a. Said push-pins are connected with thecombination mechanism knob can be operated to withdraw the bolt onlyafter the push-buttons have been moved or manipulated in a particularmanner. It will of course be understood that the said push-pins may bevaried as to form and location without departure from my invention. Ihave, for instance, in some instances made the push-pins flush with theescutcheon or with the surface of the door. The knob ais provided with aspindle f, which turns with the knob, and is provided inside of theeasing of the lock with a' rigid arm g, Figs. 3,4, 5,,6', and 8. (Shownin the drawings as extending upwardly from the spindle.) Said spindle isalso provided with a second rigid arm- G, provided at its end remotefrom the spindle with a pin g, projecting from one side of the said arminto a slot h of the bolt h.

The bolt is thrown or cast by a spring in the ordinary manner, thespring in the instance illustrated being of fiat or leaf form, asindicated at J, and being arranged to press downwardly upon thehorizontal-arm of a bell-crank lever J, the vertical arm of which actsagainst the rear end of the bolt. The pin g of the arm G acts againstthe inner end of slot h when the spindle is turned to withdraw the bolt,the said slot h allowing the bolt to be thrust backwardly independentlyof the knob-spindle, as common in spring-latches. Said slot also allowsthe bolt to be operated independently of the spindle f and combinationmechanism which controls the said spindle through the medium of the knobb. Said knob is attached to a. spindle s, which is made separate fromand adapted to turn independently of the spindle f. Said of the lock insuch manner that the outside employed for actuating the combinationmechspindle s is provided with a rigid arm .9, which is provided with aslot 8 adapted to engage a pin 7&2 in the bolt h. \Vhen the spindle sisturned in the proper direction, the bolt will be withdrawn by the actionof the arm 3' upon the pin 7L2, the pin g moving through the slot h asthe bolt is moved.

The combination mechanism embraces as its main features a tumbler ortumblers adapted to obstruct the movement of the arm g and therebyprevent the turning of the knob and the backward movement of the bolt.Devices are provided for moving such tumblers to bring them intoposition to allow the said arm g to move, which will now be described.

t' k l are tumblers,which are placed upon a common shaft or pivot K,arranged parallel with the knob-spindle f, so that the said tumblersmove or swing in planes parallel with the side of the door. Saidtumblers, in the particular construct-ion illustrated, are circular ordisk-shaped in form; but this particular shape thereof is not essential.Said tumblers are provided with a series of notches, of which two I Kappear in the drawings, Fig. 3, adapted to come opposite the arm g onthe spindle when the tumblers are placed in a certain position, andthereby allow the movement of the said arm and spindle in a direction towithdraw the bolt, the tumblers being arranged to prevent movement ofthe said arm 9 and spindle except when said notches are in'a line witheach other and opposite the arm. The notches are herein shown as madenarrow and of curved form and arranged to receive a tooth or projection9 upon the arm g, which tooth or projection is adapted to enter thenotches when the arm g is moved. In case the arm g is made of othershape, however, the notches of the tumblers may be otherwiseformed toallow movementof the arm in one position of the tumblers and to preventsuch movement in other positions thereof. Said tumblers are actuated bysprings or weights in a direction to carry the notches away from the armg, as shownin Fig. 4. In the particular construction shown the tumblersare weighted, or, in other words, the metal of the tumblers is soarranged to give a preponderance of weight at one side of the pivot K,so that the said tumblers, when left free to turn, will swing intoposition with the notches at points remote from the arm g. The movementof the tumblers in adirection to carry the notches away from the arm gis limited by means of a plurality of stops '5 Z upon the frame, saidstops being made separately adjustable, in order that the tumblers maybe arrested at different points, as hereinafter more fully described.

Devices are shown in the drawings for actuating the tumblers to bringthe notches of said tumblers in a line opposite the arm g of theknob-spindle, said devices being constructed as shown in the drawings,as follows:

The tumblers 1' 7t Z are provided with ratchet-teeth (shown at I, Fig.3) arranged concentric with the pivot of said tumblers. H H H arebodilymovable actuating pawls adapted to engage said ratchet-teeth insuch manner as to move or turn the tumblers in a direction to carry thenotches of the tumblers toward the arm g. Said actuating-pawls areherein shown as being mounted upon and moved by the series of slide-barsh h 7r, ar-

ranged to move in vertical planes, or parallel with the face of thedoor, said slide-bars being desirably located at the top of the lockcaseabove the tumblers.

Mounted upon the frame or casing of the lock are three detent-pawls q (1adapted to severally engage said ratchet-teeth of the tumblers. Thedetent-pawls g g g serve to hold the tumblers from backward movementwhen the actuating-pawls are free therefrom, said detent-pawls, by theirengagement with the teeth, acting to hold the tumblers in the positionsto which they are moved or shifted by the action of the saidactuating-pawls. In other words, the said actuating-pawls, in connectionwith the detent-pawls, enable the tumblers to be shifted to a desiredposition by a step-by-step movement, each reciprocation of anactuating-pawl carrying the tumbler engaged thereby forward one notch,while the detent-pawl passes over an interveningtooth into the nextnotch, and thereby prevents the tumbler from moving backward when theactuating-pawl is advanced to engage another tooth.

It follows from the construction above described that by repeatedmovements of the actuating-pawls the tumblers may be turned or moved toany extent desired. \Vhen, therefore, it is known to the personoperating the lock the number of movements of the actuating-pawlnecessary to bring the notch in one of the tumblers opposite the arm g,the tumbler may be easily brought to the required position by moving theactuating-pawl the desired number of times.

The actuating-pawls II II H may act by gravity or otherwise. As hereinshown their free ends are thrown downwardly into position to engage theratchet-teeth of the tumblers by springs attached to the slide-bars andacting upon said pawls. As a simple and convenient way of supporting theslide-bars, the latter, as herein shown, are mounted in guide-slotsformed in transverse arms or bars II II upon a plate 11 Fig. 11, whichis socured to the side plate of the lock-case, as clearly shown in Figs.3, 4:, and 5. The detent-pawls (1' (1 g are herein shown as consistingof spring-arms attached to the inner surface of the lock-casing andengaged at their free ends with the ratehet'teeth of the tumblers. Asfar as the operation of the other parts above described is concerned,however, said pawls may be otherwise constructed or arranged as may befound convenient or desirable.

IIO

IIS

The several slide-bars h 7L5 7b6 are actuated from the push-pins 0 (Z cby devices made as follows: At points inside of the lock-case adjacentto the said push-pins are located three bell-crank levers h 72/ its,said bellcrank levers being provided with arms arranged parallel withthe side of the door, against the free ends of which the severalpush-pins c d e are adapted to act, and with other arms arrangedtransversely to the face of the door, said transverse arms being engagedwith and actuating the several slidebars 7L4 h h*. The ends of theseveral bellcrank levers which engage the slides are slotted and engagepins attached to the slide bars-as, for instance, in Figs. 10 and 12 thebell-crank lever h is provided with a slot m, which is engaged with apin n of the slide h said pin n being attached to a horizontal arm n,which is rigidly attached to the slide h and extends over the slides hh, so as to support the pin it adjacent to the free end of thetransverse arm of the bell-crank lever. The slide k is similarlyprovided with an arm, which extends over the slide h, to support the pinwhich engages the bell-crank lever 7L2, while in the case of the slide hthe pin engaging the transverse arm of the bell-crank lever h isinserted directly in the edge of the slide. The employment of said arms,as n, for supporting the said pins enables all of the pins to bearranged at the same distance from the side of the lock-case, and thusenables the transverse arms of the bell-crank levers to be made of thesame length and the pushpins tohave the same extent of movement orthrow. The bell-crank levers are preferably mounted on pivot-pinsattached to the upper edge of the plate 11*, Fig. 11. The slides areseverally moved in a direction to carry forward the tumblers by thepush-pins, and in the opposite direction by means of springs 0 0, hereinshown (Figs. 3, i, 10, and 12) as being secured to the lock-case andacting on the endsof said slides.

For the purpose of freeing the actuatingpawls from the ratchet-teeth asthe slide-bars are moved backwardly by the springs 0 0,, said pawls aredesirably provided with rig'd arms extending rearwardly from the pivotsand adapted to engage the lower edge of the transverse frame-arm H insuch manner that the free ends of the pawls will be lifted away from theratchet-teeth as the pawls move backward, thereby obviating liability ofthe free backward movement of the tumblers being interfered with by thepawls.

The springs 0 0 0 may be alone relied upon to thrustthe push-pinsoutward; but, as herein shown, Fig. 5, said push-pins are providedwithseparate springs for this purpose, the said springs 0 0 0 in thisinstance serving to move the slide-bars and bell-crank levers only.

WVhen a number of tumblers are present, as in the lock shown, the stops1" Z will be arranged in different relative positions, so that thetumbers will need to be moved different distances to bring all thenotches thereof in line with each other and opposite the arm As shown inthe drawings, for instance, it will be necessary to actuate the push-pinc five times, the push-pin d eleven times, and

the push-pin e thirteen times to bring the several tumblers from theirthrown-01f or locked position into position for opening the door.

The means shown for adj ustably sustaining the stops 2" k l upon thelock-casing embraces features of novelty, and are as follows: Said stopsare attached to curved strips 1' Z0 Z which are adapted to fit side byside in a curved guideway L, Figs. 3, at, and 8, arranged concentricallywith the pivot of the tumblers, the said strips being adapted to slideendwisein the said guideway, so as to bring the said stops in anyposition desired with relation to the teeth or spurs i W Z on the diskswhich engage said stops. Any suitable means may be employed foradjustably securing the said strips in said curved guideway, the meansfor this purpose herein shown consisting of a plurality of notches inthe strips and a removable pin L inserted transversely through the sidewalls ofv the curved guideway L and through one of the notches in eachof the strips. Said notches of the strips are, desirably arranged at thesame angular distance apart as the ratchet-teeth of the tumblers, sothat by withdrawing said pin L the strips may be easily shifted andsecured in new positions for the purpose of shifting the points at whichthe tumblers will stop when released, and thereby changing thecombination by which the lock may be opened.

Any suitable means may be employed for releasing the detent-pawls fromthe tumblers and thereby allowing the same to swing or move backwardlyto carry the notches therein away from the arm g, and thus set thecombination to prevent the withdrawal of the bolt. The lock hereinshown, however, embraces a novel construction in means for releasing thedetent-pawls from the tumblers, which consist, generally, in a partwhich is moved by or with the knob-spindle as said knob-spindle isturned backwardly, or in a direction opposite to that in which it isturned in withdrawing the bolt, said part which is moved by or with thespindle acting upon the detent-pawls to free the same from the tumblers.\Vhen this constructibn is present, it is only DGCGS? sary, in order toset the combinatiomthat the knob should be turned slightly backward fromits normal position, when the tumblers will be released and come intoposition to prevent thespindle being turned forward and the loolt frombeing withdrawn. A construction embracing such piece or part moved withor by the spindle is herein broadly claimed as part of my invention.

As a simple and convenient construction in I TO athrowing'off device ofthe character above stated, I so construct the arm g of the knobspindlethat said arm will itself come in contact with the detent-pawls g g (1when said arm is thrown backwardly from the position commonly occupiedby it when the door is looked, as clearly shown in the drawings, Fig.

3. This construction has the great advantage of providing a throwing-offdevice without the necessity of increasing the number of moving parts ofthe lock, and this latter construction is therefore herein specificallyclaimed as an additional improvement.

It will of course be understood that in the lock shown, wherein theboltis east by a spring, the tumblers may be set for locking the dooreither before or after the latter is closed.

I have shown at r in the drawings, Figs. 3 and 4, a spring arrangedbehind the arm g and adapted for contact with said arm when the latteris free from the tumblers and in the position shown in Fig. 3. Saidspringaifords some considerable resistance to the backward turning ofthe spindle, so that the arm 9 will not be thrown against the detentpawls through a slight accidental or inadvertent turning of the knob, itbeing entirely obvious that in case the said arm g were entirely free toswing back against the detent-pawls the latter might be accidentlyreleased from the tumblers after the latter have been placed in positionfor withdrawing the bolt. By the presence of said spring, however,- thethrowing off of the tumblers, is not likely to take place except whenthe same is intentionally done. It is not essential, however, that aseparate spring should be employed for the purpose last above stated,for the reason that when the detent-pawls are formed or supported onspring-arms, as herein illustrated, the spring arms themselves may besufficiently rigid to prevent the detent-pawls being too easilyreleased.

It may be desired to lock or hold the tumblers from movement when thelatter are in position, allowing free action of the bolt in order thatthe lock may be operated by either knob without reference .to thecombination mechanism. For so looking the tumblers I have provided alocking-detent 19', mounted upon the lock-case and adapted to engagesecondary notches '6" 7& Z, formed in the several tumblers in positionto come opposite said locking-detent when the main notches of thetumblers are in position to allow the movement of the arm g. As a simpleand convenient construction in such locking-detent, the same is providedwith a spring-arm adapted to hold the detent free from the tumblers, andupon the lock-case is located a sliding piece 1), adapted to comeagainst the outer surface of the locking-detent and thereby thrust thesame into engagement with the tumblers when said sliding piece is moved,said sliding piece having a part which is accessible through a slot oropening located in the front edge of the lockcase, so that thelocking-detent can be moved only when the dooris open. When the tumblershave been set or locked by the locking-detent p, it will obviously benecessary to release said locking-detent from the tumblers before thespindle is turned backwardly to free the detent-pawls (1 g g from saidtumblers.

As before stated, the spindle s of the inside knob b has an arm .9acting upon the bolt 71 independently of the spindle f and arm g, sothat said bolt may be moved by the knob 11 independently of said spindlef. Said spindle f is desirably connected with the said spindle s by acylindric pin f, Fig. 6, fitting in cylindric apertures in the ends ofthe spindies, by which said spindles are held accurately in alignmentwith each other.

As a separate and further improvement in locks of the general characterherein shown, in which the stop for limiting the movement of eachtumbler away from the unlocking position of the same is adjustablyattached to the lock-frame, I provide the lock-casin g with an exposedmovable plate, to which the stop is adj ustably attached, and which maybe removed for shifting the position of the stop (for changing thecombination) without dis? turbin g other parts of the lock or lock-casing.

As herein shown, t is a plate, which is removably secured in thefrontplate of the lock, so that said plate 16 is only exposed when the dooris open. To said plate t the guideway L is rigidly attached, so thatsaid guideway is sustained in position partially or wholly by saidplate, and may be removed with the latter. The plate is shown as held inplace by a single screw; but it may be otherwise connected with thelock-frame, as may be found convenient or desirable.

It is entirely obvious thata lock embracing the main features of myinvention may contain one or any number of tumblers and actuatingdevices therefor, three tumblers being shown in the drawings for thepurpose of illustration.

.It is to be understood that my invention is not limited to the specificdetails of construction herein illustrated and described, except as tothe novel details, which are made the subject of specific claims herein.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with the bolt and knobspindle, of a notched tumbler mounted on a pivot parallel with theaxis of the knob-spindle and provided with ratchet-teeth, an arm orprojection upon the said knob-spindle adapted to engage the notch in thetumbler, a detent-pawl engaging the ratchet-teetlrofthe tumbler to holdthe same from backward movement, and an actuating-pawl acting upon saidtumbler to move the latter, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the bolt and knobspindle, of a plurality oftumblers cont-rolling the movement of the bolt, said tumblers bengprovided with ratchet-teeth, slides mov- 1ng 1n planes parallel with thetumbles, actuating-pawls mounted upon said slides, pushplns, andbell-crank levers connecting said push-pins with the said slides,substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the bolt and k nobspindle, of a tumblerprovided with ratchetteeth, a detent-pawl engaging the teeth of thetumbler to hold the same from backward movement, an actuating-pawlacting upon said tumbler to move the same, and a part actuated by theknob-spindle when the latter is turned backward, constructed to engageand move the said detent-pawl for releasing the tumbler, substantiallyas described.

t. The combination, with the bolt and knobspindle, of a notched tumblerprovided with ratchet-teeth, an arm or projection upon the said knob-spindle adapted to engage the notch of the tumbler, a detent-pawlengaging thetumbler, and an actuatingpawl acting on the tumbler to movethe same, said arm or pro ection upon the knob-spindle being constructedto engage and move the detent-pawl when the spindle is turnedbackwardly, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the bolt and knobspindle, of a notched tumblerprovided with ratchet-teeth, a detent-pawl engaging the saidratchet-teeth, an actuating-pawl acting upon said tumbler to move thesame, and a stop adjustably mounted on the lock-frame and adapted toengage the said tumbler, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the bolt and knobspindle, of a notched tumblerprovided with ratchet-teeth, a detent-pawl, an actuatingpawl acting uponsaid tumbler to move the same, a curved strip provided with a projectionforming a stop for the tumbler, a curved guide supporting said strip,and means for adjustably securing said strip to the said guide,substantially as described.

7. The combination, with the bolt and knobspindle, of a notched tumblerprovided with ratchet-teeth, a detent-pawl engaging the said teeth, anactuating-pawl also engaging the ratchet-teeth for moving the tumbler, apart actuated by the spindle constructed to engage and move thedetent-pawl, and a locking-detent adapted to engage the tumbler forholding the same in position to allow the actuation of the bolt,substantially as described.

8. The combination, with the boltand knobspindle, of a notched tumblerprovidedwith ratchetteeth, an actuating-pawl engaging and moving thetumbler, a part actuated by the spindle engaging and moving said detent:

pawl, a spring locking-detent engaging the tumbler to hold the same frommovement, and anexposed movable part or slide upon the lock-frameconstructed to thrust the locking-detent into engagement with thetumbler, substantially as described.

9, The combination, with the bolt and knobspindle, of a plurality ofnotched tumblers.

teeth of the tumbler to hold the same from backward movement, anactuating-pawl acting upon said tumbler to move the same, a partactuated by the knob-spindle in the backward movement of the latterconstructed to engage said detent-pawl for releasing the tumbler, and aspring applied to resist such backward movement of the knob-spindle,substantially as described.

11. The combination, with the bolt and knob-spindle, of a notchedtumbler provided with ratchet-teeth, an arm or projection upon the saidknobspindle adapted to engage the notch of the tumbler, a detent-pawlengaging the tumbler, an actuating-pawl acting upon the tumbler to movethe same, said arm or projection upon the spindle being constructed toengage and move the detent-pawl when the spindle is turned backwardly,and a spring applied to resist the backward turning of the spindle,substantially as described. 12. The combination, with the bolt andknob-spindle, of a plurality of tumblers controlling the movement of thebolt, said tumblers being provided with ratchet-teeth, slidebars movingin planes parallel with the tumblers, actuating-pawls mounted upon saidslide-bars, push-pins, and bell-crank levers,

one or more of said slide-bars being provided with pins engaging thebell-crank levers, and a lateral arm or arms attached to one or more ofsaid slidebars to sustain the pins belonging thereto, substantially asdescribed.

13. The combination, with the bolt and knob-spindle, of a notchedtumbler provided with ratchet-teeth, a detent-pawl engaging saidratchet-teeth, an actuating-pawl also engaging said ratchet-teeth, aslide-bar carrying said pawl, and a stationary part or arm located inposition to engage the actuatingpawl and throw the same away from thetumbler in the backward movement of the said slide-bar and pawl,substantially as described.

14:- The combination, with the bolt and knob-spindle, of a notchedtumbler provided with ratchet-teeth, a detent-pawl, a bodilymovableactuating-pawl, an exposed removable plate secured to the lock-frame,and a stop adjustably mounted on said removable plate and adapted toengage the tumbler, substantially as described.

15. The combination, with the bolt and knob-spindle, of a notchedtumbler provided with ratchet-teeth, a detent-pawl, an actuating-pawl,an exposed removable plate attached to the look'frame, a curved stripprovided with a projection forming a stop for IO the tumbler, and acurved guide supporting the Said strip, said curved guide being attachedto said removable plate, substantially as described.

In Witness whereof I hereunto subscribe in y name this 23d day ofFebruary, A. D. 1888.

JAMES FILLMORE THOMPSON. t-

Witnesses:

GEORGE P. BARTON, CHAS. G. IIAWLEY.

